BEIJING -- TAEKWONDO JINS MARIE Antoinette Rivero and Tshomlee Go were like thoroughbreds with racing blinders when they checked into their quarters at the Athletes Village here Friday.

And they intend to look only forward until their job is done, according to the head of the national taekwondo association.

Rivero and Go got down to the business of psyching themselves up for the battles ahead by kicking imaginary foes for an hour in the morning at the village and practicing for another hour late Saturday afternoon at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, the competition venue.

The pair, both veterans of the Athens Olympics, compete in the first round of their respective weight classes next week. Though the draw will not be held until Tuesday, Go is slated to fight the next day with Rivero seeing action on Thursday.

Taekwondo chief Robert Aventajado told the Inquirer in a long-distance interview that he expects both fighters to perform well at the Beijing Olympics.

?I am sure they will rise to the occasion,? he said. ?They know the load they are carrying.?

With light flyweight boxer Harry Tañamor blowing the first of the country?s three solid chances at a medal here Wednesday, Aventajado conceded that the pressure is on Rivero and Go to get past their first-round opponents.

No one from among the nation?s lean 15-man squad here has got past the preliminaries or took a clear crack at a medal in their respective events.

Marksman Eric Ang wound up last in trap shooting?s preliminary round, Hidilyn Diaz finished next to bottom in women?s weightlifting?s 58 kg class, archer Mark Javier got knocked out in the first round of the Fita 70-meter event, all five swimmers bombed out in the qualification stages, and diver Shiela Mae Perez settled for 23rd place, well off the 3-meter springboard?s semifinal grade.

Rivero and Go settled into their quarters with new coaches Raul Samson and Korean Kim Hong-sik, the taskmaster who guided the fighters through a gruelling training regimen last month in South Korea.

Aventajado said Rivero is ready to redeem herself from her heartbreaking stint in Athens when she lost to Greek Elisavet Mystakidou via a controversial 3-2 decision in the fight for the silver and eventually missed out on the bronze after absorbing a second loss to South Korea?s Hwang Kyung-seon in the repechage.

?Hindi ako takot sa Greek (Mystakidou) at hindi na rin ako takot dun sa Koreano (Hwang),? Aventajado quoted Rivero as saying.

?Toni prepared especially for the Korean,? added Aventajado.

Go, he said, has shown excellent maturity and is keen on fighting Chinese-Taipei?s defending Olympic champion Chu Mu-yen and German dark horse Levent Tumcat.

?Toni and Tshomlee trained real hard, I know they will do well in Beijing,? said Aventajado.